MK Horowitz Not Afraid of Beit Hamachpelah Suit

Member of Knesset Nitzan Horowitz (New Left Movement - Meretz) brushed aside, Tuesday, threats of the Jewish residents of Beit Hamachpelah (Machpelah House), near the Me'arat Hamachpelah Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron, to sue him for slander, after he called them outlaws for taking possession of the home. The residents say they have all the documentation they need to show that their purchase of the property was legal. Horowitz responded, in a statement, referring to all Jewish activity in the area, "This is not a real estate dispute of ownership of one house or another. These actions are designed for one purpose: to remove the Arabs and prevent a political solution" to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Horowitz said the residents were evicted, pending a legal determination of the legality of the sale, because their acquisition was illegal. The residents countered that the eviction order cited only a threat to public order. Representatives of the Civil Administration for Judea and Samaria told the residents that there was not apparent legal problem with the acquisition of the house.